


I’ve got you, Brother.

by asteri_13034



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Aaron Minyard-centric, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Foster Family, Anxiety Attacks, Bipolar Disorder, Bullying, Claustrophobia, Coming of Age, Drake is his own warning, Drug Addiction, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Fluff and Angst, FosterKid!Aaron, Found Family (kind of?), Heavy Angst, Homophobia, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Non-Consensual Drug Use, POV Aaron Minyard, Panic Attacks, Physical Abuse, Protective Aaron Minyard, Protective Andrew Minyard, Rape/Non-con Elements, Remember kiddos, She leaves them both, Sibling Bonding, They ARE brothers, They get better, Tilda is a bad mother, Violence, Wholesome Twinyards, hopefully, mentios of converse therapy, we must protect the ones we love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-24 17:34:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30075837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asteri_13034/pseuds/asteri_13034
Summary: Getting lost in the greatest thing that has ever happened to you and hoping it becomes immortal.What’s the reason for all of this if everything can vanish in a second?OrIn which Aaron’s finds himself a brother, and tries his best to become one as well.
Relationships: Aaron Minyard & Andrew Minyard, Aaron Minyard & Tilda Minyard, Katelyn/Aaron Minyard, Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard, Nicky Hemmick & Aaron Minyard
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	I’ve got you, Brother.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, my loved ones. I hope you like this.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Aaron meets a pig, and finds out that clones are real.

_Destiny_ , it had been called, _fate_.

Something that was meant to happen, no matter what.

If you didn’t like it, you were screwed.

The greatest thing you could do was go along with it, do not question it, otherwise you would suffer your whole life.

Aaron thought more of it as _luck_.

Good luck, bad luck. 

But perhaps, luck was just a less fancy name for destiny.

* * *

Aaron was a lucky guy.

Which was probably how he found himself in this situation.

The baseball stadium was very crowded, and Aaron was a little below the average height; how did he spot him? A complete mystery. But talking seriously, some crazy shit had always happened to him.

“Do you want some popcorn?” Aaron asked the kid who was clinging onto his hand.

Marcel was the only guy in his current foster home who was shorter than Aaron, but he was also seven years younger.

“Can they be the brown ones?” Marcel looked up at Aaron, he looked ridiculous in his oversized sweater, not cute as Brianna liked to say, but no one ever listened to Aaron.

“The brown ones suck.” He answered, they were also on the other side of the stall, and Aaron was quick, but not stupid. 

“The yellow ones then.” Marcel agreed.

Aaron risked a glance towards Gamila, the reason they were all at the Raiders’ game; if they got caught, she’ll be the one blamed, since she was the one in charge, and also the oldest one.

She seemed to be busy, though. Angrily arguing with the dickbag who was her boyfriend, and also the guy who had given them all tickets to the game. If they were bickering right now, they’ll start face-sucking at any moment, something Aaron would very not like to witness again, but something that’ll keep them distracted, the greatest chance they could get.

Aaron looked around and tried to figure out the best way to take a bag of buttered popcorn without anyone noticing; the place was full, he had a lot of coverage, and he could always blame Marcel. Maybe Aaron could tell him to trip over and make a big fuss, so he could grab more things than just a package, and then—

Suddenly, a hand clung onto his upper arm. Aaron turned his head, alarmed, and tightened his hold on Marcel’s hand.

He was looking up right at a policeman.

What the fuck, Aaron hadn’t stolen anything yet! He wasn’t even wearing his suspicious sweatshirt!

“What are you doing here?” The pig asked, he sounded less angry than the other people who had ever caught Aaron taking stuff. He was frowning slightly at Marcel, and Aaron tried to cover the kid with his own body.

“Uh…” Shit, Aaron looked around, searching for help. Some people were staring at them, some with blatant distaste in their faces. But when Aaron turned back at where Gamila had last been, there was nothing.

“Did they switch you?” He looked back at the cop’s eyes, not knowing what the madman was talking about, and then scanned the mass of people again. 

And… yes! He saw Bruno, his older foster brother, walking towards them. He had his hands in his pockets, his shoulders hunched slightly and his gaze fixed on the floor in front of his feet. He was probably wondering why they were taking so long, he sometimes was weird when it came to Aaron and Marcel. But he will help him, even if Aaron had no idea why the cop had stopped them.

As if sensing his gaze, Bruno looked up, he froze and his eyes widened. He stood like that for a moment, then turned around and left.

Aaron was left gaping at his back. That fucker! He turned his eyes at Marcel and murmured quickly. “Go and stay with him.” 

The kid looked a little spooked and reluctantly left his hand, but obeyed and ran towards the traitor’s back.

Aaron swallowed, put one his most innocent faces, and turned back to the confused, ugly cop. The man was watching his foster siblings. “What is going on, Andrew?”

Aaron didn’t know what to answer to that, so he tried to twist his arm out of the man’s hand. “Uh, listen, I wasn’t..”

Instead of releasing him, the cop tightened his grip. “I didn’t know about this, kid, I’m sorry”

“I don’t- I,..”

“But, what happened? Andrew?” The cop interrupted him.

Aaron was starting to panic, and he squirmed again, without success, from his hands.

What was the man high on? He looked around again, feeling more and more trapped. 

“You know what? You are coming with me, it’s too crowded here.” 

Aaron stopped moving, and looked back at the man. Was he being arrested?

“No!” Aaron yelled.

“No?” The cop asked, and had the balls to look more confused. Aaron was very scared. “Come on, you know you can trust me, kid.” A horde of people began to surround them. “Let’s go, Andre-“

“Let me go!” Aaron screamed, and squirmed against his grip again. 

“Kid?” The cop looked at him weirdly. Then he froze, and paled a little. “You are not Andrew...” He said with wonder. What the hell?

“Uh... “ Aaron thought quickly, “Yes, yes I am, my name is Andrew, yeah.”

“You are not Andrew.” He repeated again, firmly. While the cop seemed busy having a big-ass revelation, Aaron mentally apologized to whoever Andrew was, took his chance and kicked right into the cop’s kneecap. The man groaned but didn’t let go, Aaron quickly got off his jacket, so the man was only left holding it, and ran.

“No! Wait!” He heard him yell. Aaron was already vanishing, walking through the large groups of people. A man tried to grab him, but Aaron hit the spout of his beer with the palm of his hand and ran from the angry words the man cursed as his drink overflowed.

He kept running, and then made a turn and slammed right into Gamila. _She smelled amazing._ “The fuck, Aaron?” She snapped; then she saw his expression. “What did you do?”

Aaron could still listen to the scandal he had left behind, so he grabbed her hand. _He grabbed her hand!_ And dragged her behind him. “Hey!” She yelled, but followed him once Aaron let go.

They ran until they found their foster siblings, who were behind a half wall, a little hidden. As soon as they saw them, Marcel let go of Brianna’s hand and plastered himself to Aaron’s side.

Aaron heard Bruno say “ _gracias_ ” to the sky and then kicked him in the kneecap as well. 

He cursed harshly in Spanish as he held his leg.

“You left me!” Aaron yelled at him, putting Marcel between the two of them.

“You kicked me!” He screamed back.

“You left me there!” Aaron repeated.

“You don’t go around kicking people, _chaneque_!” 

“You looked me in the eyes and left me to die!” He heard Brianna mutter a “Stop yelling, idiots.”

“I panicked!”

“You panicked?!”

“I’m sorry!”

“Enough!” Gamila snapped. Everyone stopped talking, she took a deep breath. “Tell me what happened.”

“I don’t know!” Aaron began “We were coming back from the restroom and then the guy just grabbed me!”

“The guy?” She asked.

“A cop.”

“A cop!?” Gamila yelled.

He heard Will snicker from his place, where he was pretending to not know them. 

“How did you get away?” Bruno asked. Aaron looked at Marcel but didn't answer, the kid seemed like was going to cry.

“You are _so_ getting arrested.” Bruno said after a moment and turned his gaze back to the sky.

“No!” Marcel cried.

“Quiet!” Gamila snapped again. She ran a hand through her dark locks. “What did you do, Aaron?”

“Nothing, I swear!” Gamila narrowed her eyes at him, and then turned to Marcel, which, rude. “What did he do?” 

“Nothing!” He answered, good friend, and then he began to cry, fuck.

“Wait,” Will said, who stopped pretending he was there by himself “Where the hell is my jacket?”

“Uh, the cop stole it.” Aaron answered, truthfully.

“Dude!” Will yelled. “It has my name on it!”

“Who puts their name on their clothes?” Bruno mocked as Brianna said “Stop yelling!”

Will seemed ready to start a fight, but Gamila put herself between the two of them.

“Stop.” She ordered. She waited until Will didn’t seem ready to beat the shit out of Aaron, and then turned around.

“So you did nothing?” She asked, more calmed.

“Nothing, nothing, I swear.” Aaron leaned down a little and then picked up Marcel, so he stopped crying. “He even kept calling me another name.”

“What name, fucker?, it better not be Will, you little piece of—“

“He called me… Andrew?” Aaron told Gamila, ignoring the other guy. 

“Andrew?” Bruno asked

Aaron nodded and changed Marcel to his other hip, he was getting heavy a fuck.

“Maybe a lookalike,” Bruno said.

“It’s starting again!” Dani, the youngest girl, screeched, as she ran closer to the field.

“Oh, no.” Brianna ran behind her.

“Listen,” Gamila began, “it was probably nothing, and we didn’t drive here for an hour to leave that easily.”

“I drove.” Bruno murmured; he was the only one, aside from Gamila, old enough to do so.

“So just keep your head down and stay hidden between us.” She kept talking. 

“Where is your boyfriend?” Will asked her, even if he seemed as if he was going to start to pretend he didn’t know them again.

“He is not my boyfriend anymore.” Bruno looked at Aaron with his eyebrows raised, Gamila didn’t notice. “So we are going to enjoy this shitty game, and throw Aaron to the dogs if the cop finds us.” And with that, she turned and left towards where the girls had gone, with Will in a tow.

Bruno laughed and shook his head at Aaron “Put this on,” He said, giving him his own hoodie, it was going to look ridiculous on Aaron. “Come on, Mickey, it’ll cover you.”

“Don’t call me Mickey.” Aaron said, even as he lowered Marcel to the ground and put the huge-ass clothes on, it was too fucking warm for this.

“But is your name!” Aaron was going to glare at him, but Bruno pulled the hood all over his eyes, then laughed when Aaron fist hit him somewhere.

“I’m just keeping you from the police.”

“Fuck off.” As soon as his hands were free, Marcel held onto him, still scared from the stunt with the pig. They began to walk after their foster siblings.

“So, did you kick the blue as well, Chuck _Enanorris_?” Bruno said mockingly as he leaned down, a lot, to put his arm around Aaron’s shoulders. 

“Fuck off.” Marcel stole the words before Aaron could tell them. They both stared at the kid for a second, and then Aaron laughed out loud. “Good job!” He congratulated Marcel.

“Ugh,” Bruno said, looking at the distance, “I hope your lookalike gets you arrested or something, you are a menace to society.”

Aaron just laughed again.

* * *

Living with the Andersons was not that bad.

The couple had never touched a hair of Aaron’s head. He was pretty sure Mr. Anderson had been calling him ‘the short one’ in his head.

But Aaron kind of liked the place.

He always tried to keep in mind that he could not get used to anything, never. But he could still like it, right?

Even if they fought with each other _all the time_. Aaron couldn’t really understand how two people who seemed to hate each other so badly had ended up together.

Easy enough to ignore, Aaron simply kept along with his day, not paying attention to the ever-lasting screams that echoed in the house.

He knew how to make himself get lost, how to read the room and see when the tension was too sharp, and when it was better to skip dinner and make himself invisible. They had never touched a hair in his head, and he intended on keeping it that way.

Things got a little harder when Marcel came around, around a year later than Aaron. Before that it was just him and Bruno, some kid who came and left, and the girls. But at that time Bruno didn’t really like Aaron because he was ‘ _bien rajado’,_ Aaron never asked what that meant. 

Marcel got scared easily, and always cried very, very silently. He didn’t know how to read rooms, didn’t know how to read at all.

Someone had once protected Aaron when he had needed it, so he decided to take care of Marcel, at least until they inevitably got separated. Once the kid realized that he was safe with Aaron, he never wanted to leave his side.

Therefore, Aaron took the blame for some stuff, got himself into the losing end of some terrifyingly heavy scolding, and kept Marcel as safe as he could.

Bruno told him that he had misjudged him, and for some reason decided that Aaron was worth more than a shit. 

Aaron couldn’t care less about the older guy, but Aaron was shit at reading, and Marcel needed to learn so he could go to school; at the end, Bruno taught him how to read, and Marcel ended up with a very weird accent. 

Well, they were doing what they could.

* * *

“Does it hurt?” Aaron asked. Using his thumb to check the palm of the girl’s hand.

She shrugged.

Bruno came in, and Aaron could overhear a discussion starting downstairs. As long as Aaron, Gamila and Marcel were not in the room, he was always the first one to leave once they began.

He looked with disgust at the people in his room, groaned and climbed into his bunk bed. The bed below his was mattress-less; Will had left two weeks before, with some adoption papers signed and two raised middle fingers.

His mattress had been moved to the girls’ floor. It’s new owner was sitting right in front of Aaron.

She, Ella, hadn’t said a single word towards anyone in the whole time she had been in the house. So when she thrusted a hand full of splinters right in front of Aaron’s eyes and whispered, teary-eyed, a shaky ‘ _help me’,_ Aaron had sat her beside his bed, took a pair of tweezers and started to slowly take all the wood’s little pieces; there were places in the house that were falling apart, but they were mostly hidden by bright white paint and useless decoration objects.

“You need to tell me if you can still feel a splinter, or it could stay in your hand and get infected.”

Marcel was tangled around Aaron’s back like a monkey, and had a small flashlight pointed at Ella’s hand. “Aaron will have to cut your hand off if it gets infected.” He said towards the girl solemnly.

Aaron elbowed him and ignored his giggle. “Don’t listen to him” he told Ella, who was staring at her hand, terrified. “I won’t cut your hand off, but it’ll keep hurting if we leave the little shit on it.”

“Now,” He continued. “Does it hurt?” She nodded sharply and Aaron frowned, pulling her hand closer to his eyes, Marcel moved the light so it was flashing right into her palm. Aaron saw the splinter. 

Everyone in this house had, for some reason, started to see him like some kind of cheap nurse. They came to him, and if Aaron felt like it, he helped them. Most of the things he knew about how to ‘cure’ were told by Gamila, but she was too rough and rude for anyone to want to ask for her help, anyone except Aaron.

Aaron didn’t mind it; really, he liked it a little. Every foster kid in the house had slowly been giving him things they had, and Brianna had built a fucked up but functional kit that they all kept hidden under Will’s former bed.

  
  


“Aaron” Bruno said from his bed. Aaron didn’t look up, and finally took what seemed to be the last piece of wood. He used his thumb to check again, and looked up to see if it was better.

“Aaron” Bruno repeated. And this time Aaron looked up, but only because Bruno rarely called him by his name, it was weird. Bruno seemed very tense, and was staring outside the window next to Aaron’s and Marcel’s bed.

“What is it?” Aaron asked. He let go of Ella’s hand and poked at Marcel’s side until he untangled himself from around Aaron.

“The Spider is here” Aaron shot up from the floor. At the same time, he heard Gamila and Brianna frantically coming into their room. “Did you see who is outside?” The first one asked in a rush.

The Spider, as everyone but Aaron called her, was actually his assigned social worker; she was a tall, lanky and very skinny woman. She usually came around every month or so to check on him, and she had seen him not more than two weeks ago, since she was also Will’s assigned social worker.

“Maybe they are sending Will back,” Brianna said. “Wouldn’t be surprising.”

“After all the shit they pulled, I don't think so.” Gamila answered.

Aaron looked up from where he had frozen his sight into, and locked eyes with Bruno. Because, aside from the normal check-ups, a social worker visit could only mean another thing.

Aaron didn’t think he was ready to leave the house yet.

“Maybe it’s something else.” Gamila said, and she sounded so weird giving comfort, Aaron couldn’t believe her words.

“She seems to like you, even if we don’t understand why.” She continued.

Aaron did know why. But it was a very bad memory, full of cramped darkness, something he always kept hidden on the very back of his head. It was also kind of embarrassing, and he sure as fuck wouldn’t explain it her. Not that she seemed to be expecting an answer.

“What is going on?” Marcel asked, climbing up to their bed so he could see outside the window. Ella had vanished.

“Do you think she heard the Andersons’ fighting?” Brianna asked. Aaron shrugged, he had gotten so used to it, he hadn’t really been paying attention; he didn’t know if it had been loud enough to be heard from outside, he really hoped it hadn’t.

“Oh shit!” Bruno gasped, jumped out of his bed and clumsily jumped into Aaron’s, almost hitting his nose with the window.

“What is it?!” Aaron tried to take a look around Bruno.

He sat back on his heels, and gaped at the man that was pulling out of his car. _His cop car._

“What the hell?” Brianna yelled, climbing up to the bed as well, trying to take a better look; in her fast movement, she pushed Marcel out of the bed. He fell from it and landed on his ass. His lip quivered a little, but simply stood up and silently climbed to the bed again, this time holding onto Aaron. “Who is it?”

“Is the cop from the game.” Aaron murmured, starting to feel cold, trying to remember what the hell he could have done for the cop to come into his current house. Was kicking a police officer that bad?

“The one from the baseball game?!” Gamila yelled as well. Then she turned her gaze into Aaron, and glared at him. “You said you hadn’t done a thing!”

“I didn’t” He muttered, “I kicked him a little so I could get away, but before that, I did nothing”

“I told you to don’t go around kicking people, idiot!” This time Bruno told him.

“You said that _after_ I kicked you, it doesn’t count!” Aaron angrily said back. 

“For fuck’s sake you little piece _de—“_

“Stop this bullshit!” Gamila scolded them both, but her gaze was still on Aaron “If you did nothing, then why is he here?”

“I don’t know!”

“Of course you don’t you—“

“Aaron, could you come downstairs, please?” They all froze when they heard Ms. Anderson calling for him.

Aaron's stomach made a loop as he stood up. 

“Maybe if you apologize he won’t arrest you” Brianna offered.

Aaron glared at her and walked to the stairs.

“Oh, no; you need to stay here, _chaparrito_ ” Aaron looked back, confused, but Bruno was talking to Marcel, who was following him.

“No.” The kid said, Bruno walked towards them and carried Marcel up, even as he began to flail. “No!” He cried out, so Aaron closed the door behind him when he left the room.

He stood for a second on the top of the stairs, took a deep breath, and began to climb down.

Everyone was staring at him, like he was an exotic animal behind the bars of a cage. The kind of attention that made Aaron’s skin crawl, and he stomped down on the impulse of climbing up back the stairs and then try to pretend that his name wasn’t his.

“Hello, Miss Merena.” He said instead, because she had always been kind to him, no matter what her harsh-looking brown eyes and deep voice told the others.

“Good afternoon, Aaron. This is Officer Higgins” She always went straight to the point, probably noticing the tense energy of his body.

Said officer Higgins was staring at Aaron. He was looking at him the same way people gazed at those who swallowed swords and spitted fire. With wonder, as if Aaron was something marvelous and imposible.

But Aaron wasn't part of a circus, he just wanted to bolt out of the place and hide; just that there was no escape. So he said.

“I’m sorry I kicked you”

And the man began to laugh. 

It was enough to shift the nervousness in his belly to fury, and he couldn’t help the scowl that appeared on his face. Perhaps Aaron was the clown of this fucking circus.

He turned to Miss Merena, who had a displeased expression as she frowned at the pig.

“Officer.” She snapped.

“Sorry, sorry,” He said, still smiling, cleaning tears from his eyes. “God, is just that, you are so different.” Aaron had no idea of what the hell that meant.

“I quit the apology, respectfully, fuck off.” He turned around to stomp back upstairs, but Mr. Anderson's heavy voice stopped him.

“Aaron, stay here.” Aaron wasn’t in the mood to be yelled at, so he turned around and crossed his arms in front of his chest, looking at the wall behind his social worker.

Miss Merena was still frowning, but now at the Andersons.

“Come and sit with Officer Higgins and me, please.” She said after a moment.

Aaron walked past them and sat at the very edge of a chair in the giant table of the dining room.

“I’m sorry about that, kid.” He said, but Aaron ignored him. He heard a sigh. 

“Aaron,” Miss Merena began, “Officer Higgins said that he saw you at the Raiders’ game, in Oakland, just before classes started. Do you remember that?”

And how could he forget? “I didn’t do anything, he just grabbed me.” He answered defensively.

“Oh, kid, I wa—“

“We aren’t saying that you did something wrong, Aaron.” She interrupted him, which was great, because listening to the cop talking was annoying. “But he saw _you_ right?”

Aaron looked at her, confused by her tone of voice, and narrowed his eyes.

There was an unknown emotion in her face, a certain eagerness in the way she was slightly leaning forwards, Aaron shifted a little so the very tip of his toes could graze the floor. He gave a quick look at Higgins, who looked the same, but blunter. Aaron nodded, cautiously.

“He grabbed you because he mistook you for someone else” She said.

“Andrew.” Aaron stated. 

The cop sat up straighter, and Aaron leaned back from him. “Do you know him?!” He asked.

Aaron scowled again, “You kept saying fucking his name, pig.”

“Aaron.” Miss Merena scolded him.

But the pig had the same expression from before. “Not so different, then.” He murmured with wonder. Again with this shit?

“So what, this lookalike is wanted or what? Do you have a point?” He shifted in his chair.

“We think that, maybe, you two were separated in the system” Miss Mercedes stated. 

Aaron looked between the two of them. She had said the words slowly, and Aaron repeated them in his mind, but they didn’t make sense, just like words never did. Both of them were watching him as if they expected him to jump with joy or something, he didn’t understand.

“What the fuck? So this- so this guy he-” Aaron stood up and walked backwards until he could see the stairs again. 

Miss Merena stood up as well. “Aaron, wait, please sit down with us.” 

He glanced briefly at the stairs and then slowly sat down again.

“What you are trying to say, is that this lookalike-“

“He’s not just a lookalike.” Officer Higgins interrupted him.

“Officer, please let me do-“ 

“Here, look.” He interrupted her as well. He took a paper from his pocket and gave it to Aaron, when he didn’t take it, he unfolded it and put it on the table.

Aaron looked down at it, and froze.

Because it was a picture of him.

In the picture, Aaron was standing with a bored expression, surrounded by people he didn’t know. He studied everyone in it trying without success to recognize their faces, then looked back at his own face.

“Aaron.” He heard the woman say a moment later, when he was still trying to make sense of this.

“What is this?” He asked, looking up. Miss Merena was shaking her head at the cop, who looked smug. 

Maybe Aaron had simply forgotten all the people in the photo, along with when it was taken. It was likely, more likely that the alternative. The alternative had to be a lie.

“We think that Andrew is your brother, and that you two were separated when you were younger.” She said.

Aaron looked back at the picture, he knocked his sneakers together twice, opened and closed his hands. _Brother?_ He thought. _Family?_ The nervousness was back, stronger, but it had a different shade.

 _Excitement._ He swallowed, and opened his mouth again. He closed it.

“Is this some kind of prank?” He asked because it sounded surreal, if it was, it was a very cruel one. He didn’t want to think that Miss Merena was a cruel person.

“No, Aaron, it is not a prank.”

_Oh_. 

_Brother?_

“Do- do you... do you know him?” He asked Officer Higgins, the man was smiling.

“Yes I do,” He answered. “And I really want you to meet him as well.”

Aaron took a deep breath, and tried to fight against the little pull on the corner of his mouth. _Brother_. How impossible was that?

“But,” Miss Mercedes interrupted, “We have to make sure he wants to meet as well” _Oh._

Officer Higgins hit the table with his hands. “Why would you-“

“We have to make sure both of them want to meet each other, it is fair, and you said that Andrew's family was going to adopt him, something like this could have a big impact on both of their lives.”

“I said they were _looking_ into adoption,but I am very sure they, obviously, would want them to meet each other.”

Aaron thought he understood, his social worker didn’t want to give him big expectations, big hopes, only to betray them. He tried telling himself that, but the humming thrill that he felt through his veins, and the way his thoughts went back to _brother_ over and over again wouldn’t stop.

He swallowed and hid his slightly trembling fingers under the table.

“Maybe you could ask him?” He told the adults in front of him. Then cleared his throat, he hated when his voice sounded so damn small. “And then let me know if he wants to meet me.”

The cop smiled, but it was smaller than earlier, and the fold of his eyebrows was a little pained. Miss Merena simply said that it was a great idea.

Later, as Aaron went back upstairs, he couldn’t help but think, again. 

_Brother?_

* * *

Family was an unknown concept to Aaron. 

There were maybe three people in the world who he would have dared to call family, but he didn’t know if they'd call him family back.

Family, a beautiful, shiny thing that had always been outside his reach, behind a clean glass like the things behind a sideboard that said ‘admire, do not touch’

Perhaps, this was Aaron’s fault. _‘Only 13 percent of the people in foster care get adopted,_ ’ Will enjoyed to say the days before he was taken by his new family _‘the fact that you are part of the majority is no one's fault but yours.’_

Fair enough, but Aaron had Marcel, and Bruno. And _maybe_ , he’ll have Andrew as well, a real brother. 

No matter how hard Aaron tried to rein in his excitement, stomp it down and ready himself for yet another disappointment, he couldn’t wait to get Andrew’s answer. 

* * *

Aaron didn’t have a father.

He didn’t have a mother.

He had no one, that was it.

A default last name and no story to tell at all.

But, apparently, he had a brother.

And apparently, this brother wanted nothing to do with him.

In those exact words. There went all his fucking excitement. 

It really shouldn’t have surprised him, it certainly shouldn’t have hurt so fucking bad. It did.

Because one thing was knowing that his family, who had probably given him up, couldn’t care less about him. And another one was being told this, in a short letter that had written a big ‘fuck off’ with big bold, capital letters.

It was kind of obvious, now that he thought about it. Why the hell would anyone want anything to do with Aaron?

Higgins, the pig, had said that Andrew’s current foster family had been looking into adoption.

But Aaron sometimes was a fool. No, he liked to fool himself.

  
  


Which was how he found himself sitting on his bedroom floor, staring in vain at the letter in his hands, trying not to throw a ridiculous temper tantrum.

He was not paying attention, he didn’t see Bruno coming in until he was looming right behind him.

“Is that a love letter, _chaparro_?”

He slipped the letter from Aaron’s slow hands and held it high.

“Hey!” Aaron yelled “give that back, fucker!” Bruno laughed and stretched his long-ass arms to the ceiling, Aaron climbed into the bed so he could get the letter outside of Bruno’s filthy hands, but Bruno easily pushed him away, so he landed on his ass on the bed.

Aaron saw how the donkey smile slowly vanished from Bruno’s face, and saw his eyes move from side to side as he reread the letter.

Once he turned back to Aaron, he took the opportunity and stole back the letter; then he, ashamed, didn’t meet his eyes.

“This is from the lookalike that the blue confused you for, right?” Aaron sat on his bed and didn’t answer.

He saw Bruno run a hand through his hair and lick his lips, looking very uncomfortable. He heard him sigh, and then he squatted in front of Aaron, so they were eye-to-eye. Aaron scowled at him.

“You need to talk to him.” He ordered. 

Aaron felt rage blooming up his chest, and fisted the hand that didn’t have the letter. “You can’t read or what!?” Aaron barked “Didn’t you see wha—“

“Let me finish, _mocoso_ ” Bruno said, without really raising his voice, Bruno had a voice like that. Aaron shut up, even if he still felt as if something was boiling inside of him.

“You need to talk to him, face to face.” 

“Wha- why?” Aaron asked.

Bruno shifted so one of his feet was planted in the ground and slowly reached towards the letter. “You see this?” He pointed at something with his finger, and Aaron looked at it, but found nothing, he squinted his eyes and brought it closer, but he couldn’t see shit.

He turned back to Bruno, who had his ‘you are an idiot’ face, he sighed again.

“The handwriting is shaky, and a little… smudged?” Aaron reviewed the letter again, how could one know if the words were shaky? “As if it was written in a rush”

“How can you know that?” Aaron asked. Yes, it was a little dirty, but all of Aaron's notes were always like that, scratched, striped and dirty letters that piled up with each other. Andrew’s handwriting was still tidier, perhaps, prettier.

Bruno scratched the back of his head and looked to the door, then sighed, yet again. “Back when I was… there,” He was talking from his time before the system “sometimes we used to get into... big shit? Dangerous stuff, so when we needed… uh… people to stay away, sometimes we sent texts or, well, letters to keep them away. When, uh, hostage situations for example?

“You think he is being held hostage?!” Aaron made to stand from the bed, but Bruno pushed him back “Sit your idiotic midgety ass down!” He said, a little louder.

Bruno ran a hand through his face. “What I was trying to say is, these kind of stuff” he pointed to the paper “is not safe to trust”

“I mean, imagine if he came here, where would he stay, in the bed with you and Marcel?”

Aaron thought about it, if they ever met, which Andrew seemed against to, what would happen then?

“You would really want him to stay _here_ with us?” He said as if he already knew the answer, and the house was something nasty.

Aaron didn’t understand “What’s wrong with this place?” He asked, genuinely confused. Bruno gave him a searching look, opened his mouth, but said nothing; he made a face that Aaron couldn't really read “There are better places” He seemed to settle for at the end.

Aaron guessed there were, but he could see what Bruno was trying to tell. “What you are saying is, maybe Andrew is in… danger?”

Bruno nodded, his pale eyes looking less uncomfortable “But,” Aaron continued “Piggins said that his fosters wanted to adopt him”

“Piggins?” Bruno asked, smirking.

“Bruno.” Aaron pleaded.

“Alright, alright. We don’t know shit about him, or his house. Maybe they are good lads, maybe they’re cunts, you know how fucked up and blind this system is. But,” He looked at Aaron in the eyes “he _can_ be your family. Which is why you need to talk to him.” Aaron nodded. 

“If he can’t say that shit to your face, ” Bruno continued “he was either lying or a coward” And then he smiled. “And we don’t friend with cowards, do we?”

Aaron couldn’t help but smile a little and shake his head. 

“So we are going to find a way to talk to the little shit, and ask him if he really wants to be friends with us, or if we are going to fuck off, alright? But remember, Ren-ren, you don’t need him.”

“Don’t call me that.” Aaron snapped.

Bruno threw his head back and laughed. He slapped his legs and stood up.

“Now,” he said “as much as I love sharing my invaluable knowledge with you, my little fella,-”

“Fuck you”

“-Dani fell from the stairs”

Aaron groaned “Argh, man. Again?” He stood up and began walking behind Bruno towards the door.

“What can I say, you gotta use your kids-charm and patch her up again, she never cries with you, crazy shit if I have a say. Meanwhile, me and Gamila, your habibi-“

“Fuck you!”

“Amazing variety of language you have there, bro; we are going to Walmart to… borrow a lamp that looks like the one the beast broke with her big-ass forehead, no beatings tonight, hell yeah, that’s my motto.” Aaron laughed again.

As they walked to the crying kid, Aaron folded neatly the letter and put it in his pocket; Oakland, which wasn't very far from San Jose. Maybe Bruno was right. 

There was only one way to know. 

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Careful with your kneecaps around Aaron.
> 
> This was the first chapter, there are a lot more to come!  
> Always be mindful with the triggers, things will get difficult.  
> Show me some love. Thank you for reading!
> 
> Chaparro/chaparrito: Is an affectionate way to call oh the short ones.  
> Chaneque: They are some ugly little creatures, who are very small.  
> Mocoso: Brat  
> Bien rajado: Coooowaaaard.
> 
> See you soon!


End file.
